The Effect of Dietary Modification on Blood Pressure Control is a Collaborative, 3-center study which seeks to determine whether weight reduction or sodium restriction can maintain blood pressure control in previously drug-controlled hypertensive patients without the use of or with a reduction in the amount of pharmacologic therapy needed. Patients enrolled in the current grant have previously been treated in the stepped care of the Hypertension Detection and Follow-Up Program which evaluated the effects of a systematic, antihypertensive treatment program on 5 year mortality and achieved a 20 percent reduction in mortality of mild hypertensives in this treatment regimen compared to those in a group referred to usual sources of medical care. If the current study shows that dietary modification is able to control blood pressure without the prospect of lifetime drug therapy with its substantial costs and potential risks, the benefit of the results will apply to many millions of hypertensives.